Yuvraj Singh announces retirement from international cricket

What's the story?

Star India batsman Yuvraj Singh today announced his retirement from international cricket. The stylish left-handed batsman last played an ODI for India on June 30, 2017.

In case you didn't know..

Yuvraj made his debut in 2000 in the ICC Knockout Trophy against Kenya and went on to become one of the country's greatest middle-order batsmen.

He played a pivotal role in India's triumphant 2007 World T20 campaign, and was the Man of the Tournament in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

The heart of the matter

Yuvraj made 8701 runs from 304 ODIs at 36.55 with 14 hundreds and 52 fifties and was one of India's biggest match-winners.

His performances in the Tests though were not up to expectations. He played only 40 Tests, in which he scored 1900 runs at 33.92 with three centuries. He was a champion player for India in the T20Is as well as he amassed 1177 runs at 28.02 with 8 half-centuries.

"I have been playing international cricket on and off for 17 years. Now, it is time to say goodbye to move on and walk away. It has been a roller-coaster ride and a great story but it has to come to an end " Yuvraj said

Yuvraj had recently revealed that he wanted to play the 2019 World Cup, but it didn't materialize as a complete lack of form meant he fell away from the selectors' radar.

However, in the recent past, his performances in the domestic circuit were far from impressive. In the IPL as well, he got to play in just four matches for his new franchise Mumbai Indians before being dropped from the playing XI in favour of Ishan Kishan.

What's next?

Yuvraj is likely to participate in ICC-approved T20 leagues around the world like the GLT20 (Canada) and the Euro T20 slam in Ireland and the Netherlands.